The Best Date
by Paige Collins
Summary: Didn't see an Archie Comics section. Posted here. What happens: Betty flips it a bit wehn Archie goes out with Veronica instead of her and in the end, somehow, a tree branch lands on top of Ronnie.


The Best Date

By: Paige Collins

Authors Note: I'm about to cry. I don't know why I am, but I feel like I'm about to cry. This is some stupid Archie Comics story…and it's the best work I, to me that is, have done! Oh, here come the rushing water down the flesh colored ditches.

He brushed against me as I opened my locker. "Archie?" I asked to the person.

The person looked at me. "Yeah?"

It was Archie. 

"Hey, Archie," I said. "We still going out Friday?"

He looked at me and scratched his head. "Gee, Betty, I don't know."

That wasn't exactly the answer I'd expected. But I wasn't Veronica. I didn't blow up at people. I gulped. "What…what exactly do you mean?"

Archie looked at the dirty tile floor beneath us. "Veronica came up to me yesterday. She wanted to go out me Friday. If I said no…Betty, you know how Ronnie gets."

I stared at him. "So, to spare your feeling and skip a beating, you decided to break our date?"

"I'm sorry," Archie said, keeping that naughty, guilty school boy look on his face. "I couldn't say no."

"Well," I said, trying not to get aggravated and trying not to cry. "You're going to have to learn."

I slammed my locker shut and when I was out of Archie's sight, I stomped

RIIIINNNGGG!

The phone rang suddenly. My book fell from my hand to the floor with a crumpling plunk sound.

I dashed into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Betty?" It was Veronica.

"What?" I said. 

"Gee," Veronica said. "Don't have to get all hostile on me. I just wanted to inform you that Archie and I –"

"Have a date," I snapped bitterly. "Yes. I know. Archie told me earlier today at school."

"Neat," Veronica said.

I felt a cold rise in my throat. I felt my eyes sting and I closed them. When I am opened them, I felt tears. "I knew this was too good to be true," I said. "I knew somehow, some way, you, Veronica Lodge, would find a way to ruin the only life you haven't ruined yet! If you went through what I went through every time I see Archie with you when it's supposed to be me…you don't know how that feels, Veronica Lodge. You be glad you have everything in the world. But don't rob the dreams, hopes and desires this one poor young girl has left!"

Veronica was silent. "Betty, have you been doing any type of drugs…?"

"You cold hearted, no good, selfish little –"

"Betty," said the phone voice of Veronica. "I know it 'pains' you to see us together, but dear, you forget…he's MY boyfriend, not yours."

"I'm better because I'm a blonde and every time you see a guy looking at you, he's not looking at you, he's looking at me. Because dark hair is ugly."

"Betty, no matter what you do, I'm always above you. _I_ am the rich one. _I_ have the boyfriend you want. _I_ am better than you, Betty Cooper and don't you forget that!"

I slammed the phone down. I hoped I hurt her ear. Because soon, it wouldn't just be her ears that were hurting.

Friday night was supposed to be my night out with Archie. 

It was the night of something more horrible than twelve nonstop hours of Jerry Springer. The end of Veronica.

No, I wasn't going after the idiot with an ax. It was time to bring her down off her cloud she was floating on. 

Time to make her see the real world doesn't care about a pretty face. To show her what the real world would think of her. But hey, I was preparing her early, so this wouldn't come as quite a shock when she gets around the age to work.

I was hiding in a tree. I don't know why. It sounded like a good idea at first, but when I got in it, it wasn't such a good idea. Oh, well.

Veronica and Archie were heading home. I was in the tree. I was waiting…waiting…waiting!

"Oh, Archie," Veronica said, pouring on so much sap you could pour it over pancakes. "That was _such_ a lovely night. We must do this again. Say, tomorrow?"

Both of them laughed.

"Haha," I whispered.

"It was a good night." Archie laughed. "The best part about this night is that I was spending time with you."

"Humph," I snorted.

"Did you heard something?" Archie said.

"No." In the darkness and the weak street lights along the street, I saw Veronica look around. "I'm scared."

"Oh," Archie said. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Nothing my foot," I said quietly.

"There it went again," Archie said. "Did you hear it?"

"Yeah."

I clamped my hand over my mouth.

CRRRRAAAAACCCCKKKK!

The sound was very sudden. I felt my heart jump out of chest and run down the street. It was like a gun shot, only quieter.

The tree limb was breaking.

"Oh, no," I whispered. I looked around in the darkness for another. The closet one was to my left…

I reached out. Shoot! My hand missed and my arm went smacking down on the branch. Leaves fell to the ground and the branch cracked faster.

"Someone's in the tree!" Veronica cried as the branch cracked again.

Suddenly, without warning, I felt the limb go out from under me. It was like I was slipping down and would never stop. 

"WHOOOOOAAAAA!" I cried. WHAM!

We, being the branch and I, smacked down on something soft yet hard.

"Veronica!" Archie cried.

Veronica was alive, but out cold.

"She'll be fine," I said, getting up and brushing myself off. "Let's go for a soda. I'm dying of thirst."

Archie looked down at the knocked out Veronica Lodge on the pavement. "The people in the house right there see her, I think."

I looked. "I think so too."

We both looked at each other and laughed and strolled off to get a soda in the darkness. And that, my friends, was the best date.


End file.
